Japanese teen is golf's new star

Los Angeles: Over here at the playhouse usually known as Riviera Country Club, there hasn't been this much hubbub about a high school student since 1992, when some 16-year-old turned up and missed the cut yet wowed the crowd.

"These guys are just too good," Tiger Woods actually said that Friday. "I just don't think I'm ready for this."

It's jarring that such words ever did emanate from Woods, and 17 years later on Tuesday there came another set of uncommon golf words:

"Hello, America."

So went the careful diction and big smile of a sensation born in - make sure not to spit your coffee - 1991, and so went cameras clicking and whirring and pens scribbling in a room full of 100 Japanese reporters who have lent spectacle to this Northern Trust Open, plus a few stray Americans.

Evidently this pup of 17 had rehearsed his English introduction diligently with his father in his hotel, and so he continued:

"I'm Ryo Ishikawa from Japan. First of all, I would like to thank Northern Trust Open for giving me..." and then he got charmingly stuck - "accepting, opportunity. It's like a dream."

Heck, his whole life, it's like a dream. He materialised at the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup in May 2007 at age 15 for his debut on the Japan Tour, and he shot a 69 and a 66 on a 36-hole Sunday and became the youngest male on Earth to win on a major tour. He was so anonymous the Japanese media had to rally for a news conference at his high school.

"How you pronounce my name, it is Ryo," he continued on Tuesday, and he said the little word rapidly with maybe a "D" sound in it, then said, "Everyone repeat out of me, Ryo!"

Here's Ryo's life story: He turned professional, reaped endorsements, won again on tour last November even though he said his hands shook on No 18 "like a scene from a 'manga' comic story." The Northern Trust Open invited him to the United States. Arnold Palmer invited him to Bay Hill. Augusta National invited him to the Masters, leaving him dazed.

"I have wanted to play on the PGA Tour since I was young," he actually said on Tuesday, "and it's kind of like a dream playing with those superstar players" such as practice partners Chris DiMarco and J.J. Henry.

-Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service